of bergamo



(No Model.)

E. DAINA.

DEVICE FOR TWISTING SILK FROM GOOOONS AND OTHER MATERIALS. No. 248,408.Patente& Oct. 18,1881.

K 27 W fiw NITE STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANCESCO DAINA, OF BERGAMO, ITALY.

DEVICE FOR TWISTING SILK FROM COCOONS AND OTHER MATERIALS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 248,408, dated October18, 1881. Application filed July 7, 1881. (No model.) Patented in ItalyOctober 18, 1878.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANCESCO DAINA, of Bergamo, in the Kingdom ofItaly, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Devices forTwisting Silk from Oocoons and other Materials, of which the followingis a specification, and for which were granted Letters Patent of theKingdom of Italy, numbered 10,359, and dated October 18, 1878.

Although my improvements are intended chiefly for use in reeling orwinding silk from cocoonsthey may also beembodiedin machines fordoubling and twisting.

In reeling silk from cocoons great loss of time occurs when a filamentfrom one of them happens to break and a fresh one has to be substituted,and if the operative is not successful in at once replacing the brokenfilament the thread produced will be irregular and uneven from the factthat the number of filaments composing it vary at different portions ofits lengths. The same remarks apply when the operations oftwisting ordoubling are being performed.

The results of this invention are the certainty of being able to replaceany number of broken filaments immediately, and the ability to cut awaythe loose end of the replaced filament above its union with the mainthread, and that consequently a more regular and even thread is producedthan by any of the processes at present in vogue, the thread being freefrom nibs.

The apparatus consists of a wheel or flier having a hollow spindleworking in a fixed frame. The wheel or flier preferably has threegrooves in its periphery, and the sides of the central groove projectbeyond the outer sides of the exterior grooves. In each of the exteriorgrooves runs a cordor band, each of which is connected with the motivepower, and thus motion is imparted to the wheel. A knife or cutterhaving a curved or semicircular stock or arm is fixed by one end in theframe, and is arranged so that its blade is in the center groove. Thereare notches, hooks, or catches in the edges or sides of the centralgroove.

The apparatus is used as follows: Underneath the rotating wheel areplaced the cocoons of silk or other material required to be used. Athread, containing as many separate filaments as may be desired, ispassed through the hollow spindle or shaft of the wheel and reeled inthe usual way. When a filament breaks, or from any cause it is desiredto add a fresh one to the thread, a cocoon is placed in the bathunderneath the flier, and the part of the new filament near the free endis placed in contact with the edges of the central groove, and isinstantly caught by the notches, hooks,

or catches and carried round thereby. Theparts of the filament on eachside of the central groove pass under the bands running in the exteriorgrooves, and are thus held tightly. The cocoons being stationary therotary motion of the wheel warps the fresh filaments round the unbrokenfilaments, and the portion of the new filament between the edges of thecentral groove coming into contact with the knife or cutter is divided.The fresh filament then passes with the others up the hollow spindle inexactly the same way as if it had been thrown in the usual manner. Thusthe operations of warping a new filament and cutting off the superfluousend of the same filament are performed immediately after each other. Anend of the replaced filament equal to the radius of the flier remains tothe thread. A collar is placed loosely round the spindle of the flier,round which entwine the detached ends of the added filaments. Thisprevents them from clogging up the apparatus.

Instead of the bands as above described, springs or pads may be used tohold the ends of the filaments about to be added. A Wheel with a singlegroove instead of three may be used. InIthis case there is a subsidiarygroove at the bottom of the principal groove. As before, there arenotches, hooks, or catches on the sides or projecting rims of theprincipal groove. A driving-band lies in the principal groove, and iswide enough to coverthe groove. The knife or cutters in the subsidiarygroove and the operation is similar to that described when the wheel hasthree grooves, the only variation being that, whereas in the latter casethe end of the filamentis secured by two bands, in the present case oneWide band only is requisite.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure lrepresents a central verticalsection of a wheel or flier embodying. my invention, aportion of the LJIframe supporting; the same and a number of cocoons. Fig. 2 represents aside view of said wheel or flier and frame. Fig. 3 represents a plan ofthe wheel or flier. Fig. 4 represents a central vertical section of awheel or flier of slightly modified form, and also a portion of theframe and cocoons. Fig. 5 represents a side view of the wheel or flierand frame shown in Fig. 4. Fig. firepresentsaplan thereof, and Fig. 7represents a view of the knife detached.

Similar letters of reference designate corrc sponding parts in all thefigures.

Each of these twisting devices, which may also be termed thread-joiners,is composed of a little wheel, a, turning upon a pivot, of which thecenter is perforated by a hole, I), through which the thread of silk towhich the silk filaments are to be joined passes.

The pivot to may either be fixed to the support A or may form part ofthe little revolving wheel a and pass through a bearing in the support,as here represented.

The form of the pivot as well as that of the l'ttle wheel may be variedindefinitely.

The wheel or flier a represented in Figs. 1,

2, and 3 comprises in ts periphery a central groove, .9, and a groove,8, upon each side thereof, and theflanges which form the sides of thecentral groove are of considerable width, and havein them notches t, asseen in Fig. 3. The groove 8 receive bands 0 0, whereby the wheel orflier is rotated, and in the central groove, 8, is arranged aknife, u u,which is secured in the frame of the machine. The wheel or flierrepresented in Figs. 4, 5, and 6 has only a single groove, 8, whichreceives a driving-band, c and in the bottom of said groove is a smallergroove, receiving the knife an. The knife to has a worm or stock, u,made in the form of a half-circle, and which embraces the wheel orflier. This knife is clearly shown in Fig. i.

In the thread-joiners of the accompanying drawings the wheels turn inthe direction of the arrowsf, moved by the cords 0 c or by the band 0.The following is their mode of workmg:

If the wheel a is in motion and it be desired to add one or morefilaments to the thread, the reeler brings one or more cocoon filamentsin contact with it. These filaments are caught by one of the notches t tcut in the most prominent flanges of the wheel in question and carriedround.

It must be remembered that at the moment of its contact with thefilaments the notch which catches them is at the point 1), Figs. 3 and6, and it will be understood that, in turning, this notch carries themthe first revolution outside the broken-thread cutter, and, havingreturned to the pointb,itcarries them another half-turn within the stocku of the cutter a, until they arrive at its extremity a, correspondingto the point where the cords c c or the band 0', which move the wheelsa, hold and retain under their pressure the filaments to be joined.

The part of the filaments placed between the two cords c 0 or the sidesof the band 0" strike against the end a of the book a u, and, beingunable either to pass over or to yield, the filaments being held asaforesaid, they must necessarily break. Thus broken and suitablyshortened,these filaments are thrown by the revolving wheel a upon thoseof the other cocoons which are being reeled, and joined thereto.

The thread-joiners in use up to the present time, wanting an arrangementsimilar to that here indicated, did not always break the filament, andtherefore the junction is accomplished in a defective manner, and theend of the filament to be joined, being insufliciently shortened,sometimes remained attached to the joiningwvheel and finished bybreaking the thread composed of the various filaments of all the othercocoons in process of being reeled, a very grave obstruction to theregularity of the reeling.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-- 1. The combination, with the wheel or flier for twisting,containing peripheral grooves and having projecting flanges providedwith notches, of a knife or cutter, having a stock or arm ofsemicircular shape fitting in one of said grooves, and a driving band orbands fitting the other groove or grooves, substantially as and for thepurpose specified.

2. The combination of the flier or wheel containing the central groove,S, the grooves S upon each side thereof, and flanges provided withnotches t, the knife "u u, and the drivingbands 0 c, substantially asspecified.

FRANCESCO DAINA.

Witnesses:

P. Morr, CARLO GATTI.

